This invention relates generally to tools for installing weatherseals on the flanges of surrounding door and trunk lid openings, for example on motor vehicles, and more particularly to such a tool that is easier for operators to utilize.
The installation of weatherseals on the flanges of door and trunk or similar openings of motor vehicles is commonly accomplished manually or with a pneumatic tool. The tool has opposed spaced apart driven rollers separated by a nip wide enough to accommodate the weatherseal therein. The rollers are preferably counter rotating, and press the weatherseal body therebetween as they travel along the seal to urge it into engagement with the flange. A freely rotating non-powered roller engages the base of the seal to hold the power rollers in alignment with the sides of the seal. The tool has made the installation of seals on flanges easier, and allows an operator to install many more flanges in a given time than he could manually.
The most commonly used tool of the type to which this invention relates comprises a tool head having the driven counter rotating side rollers and freely rotating base roller. The tool head is connected to an air motor most usually enclosed in a cylindrical housing of a size readily gripped with one hand by an operator.
Commonly, the air motor within the housing is actuated by depressing a lever lying alongside the housing that engages a push type button actuator switch on the housing. The lever is ordinarily pivoted at the rear end of the housing, and extends towards the front thereof, with a significant portion extending beyond the first button switch to provide a mechanical advantage.
A tool of the type described can be easily gripped in one hand for operation and the lever can be actuated by the palm or fingers of the hand while holding the tool. A problem arises when the tool is used to install a seal around a door or trunk lid opening that is large and U-shaped, as is quite conventional. If the tool is grasped in the operator's hand in a comfortable position for starting the installation, at one corner of the opening for example, by the time the tool is moved up one edge of the opening for example, by the time the tool is moved up one edge of the opening, across the top, and down the opposite edge, the operator's hand has been contorted into a possibly very uncomfortable position. Since it is normally necessary to grip the tool relatively securely, both to keep the operating lever depressed to maintain power to the tool, and to maintain the tool engaged with the seal to crimp the seal to the flange, the operator quite commonly finishes the installation with the wrist inverted and under considerable strain.
It is an object of this invention to provide a tool for installing a seal on the flange of a door or trunk lid or similar opening of a motor vehicle, without subjecting the operator to the stresses involved in using tools heretofore known.
It is another object of the invention to provide such a tool that is light weight, and comfortable to hold.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide a tool having an actuator mechanism that does not interfere with the comfortable gripping of the tool over a wide range of motion, so as to permit the installation of a seal on a flange of a wide variety of configurations.
It is still another object of this invention to provide a tool of the type described that permits the operator to grip the tool firmly to maintain control, while at the same time permitting the tool to rotate in the operator's hand to avoid the need for contorting the hand to uncomfortable positions.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide a tool of the type described that accommodates a muffler and/or filter for a pneumatically operated tool.